Hi Darby,

I had a lot of the same questions that you have. I've done a lot of adventure touring on BMW GSs, including Alaska, Central America, South America, and Australia. On each of these trips I had to deal with the BMW's idiosyncracies, including poor charging, bad rotors, questionable starters (Valeo particularly), etc.

I read many of the same things you have about how the GSs are outdated, heavy, and troublesome. So, a couple of years ago I bought a KLR and set it up for adventure touring. I researched the big single adventure touring bikes and decided the KLR was the most appropriate since it has been around long enough to have most of the kinks worked out and there is a great selection of aftermarket parts for it.

I had a lot of fun setting the KLR up for adventure touring. If you're interested I can send you a detailed list of the modifications and additions I made to the bike. Subsequently I've ridden the KLR on several adventure trips including 2 rides into Copper Canyon, Baja, and many dirt passes in Colorado. After touring with both the GS and the KLR, here are my impressions.

The KLR is a much better dirt bike. This is not suprising since it is >100 pounds lighter! When both bikes are unloaded, the KLR is much more fun to ride off road. However, when touring, the bikes are often loaded with hard bags and gear, offsetting some of the advantage.

And when it comes to the street, the BMW really shines. After all, it really is a street bike with long-travel suspension! The BMW can cruise all day at 80-90 mph, even fully loaded. While the KLR can cruise at 80, it's straining, there's more vibration, and the gas mileage goes way down. It's also a smaller bike so there's less room to move around and stretch out. And, it can't carry as much as the BMW and starts to feel overloaded with a month's worth of gear.

As for reliability, I'd have to say the KLR is slightly more reliable. Even it has its quirks, including a peculiar cam chain tensioner and counterbalancer. If you've been following some of the tales on the adventure touring lists, it seems that a couple of people have recently blown their KLRs up in remote areas. Of course, we've read stories about people destroying their BMWs too!

I do all my own prep and service on my bikes. I find the BMW easier to work on than the KLR. Some of that might be the fact that I'm more familiar with the BMW. However, having rebuilt my carbs on the BMW this weekend, and rejetted the KLR earlier, I can definitely say that the BMW wins here, even with 2 carbs. Similar observations for adjusting valves and spark plugs. And, no chain to adjust or lube on the BMW (but expect drive shaft replacement at 40k mile intervals).

So, after all this, I am prepping my BMW for my next adventure. I figure that I will be spending most of my time on this trip on good or bad roads, the place where the BMW shines. And I figure a well prepped BMW can be just as reliable and more comfortable than a KLR.

In the end it comes down to which bike I'm more comfortable with, in terms of preparation, reliability, service, parts availability, etc. The BMW won out for me. Stay tuned and I'll report if I made the right decision!

Feel free to contact me off the list if you'd like to see the mods I've made to both my GS and KLR.

Story